After its former CEO hinted that acquisitions were coming in 2021, longtime San Antonio construction engineering firm Raba Kistner Inc. has acquired Drake Environmental LLC, a construction services company based in College Station.
Raba Kistner provides environmental planning, project management and other services for construction projects across the U.S. and in Mexico. It has played a role in some of the largest construction and infrastructure projects in San Antonio including expansion of the Convention Center, the Shops at La Cantera and the redevelopment of San Pedro Creek.
Raba Kistner said Monday that the purchase of Drake Environmental this month will increase environmental services it offers in Southeast, Central and North Texas. Adding Drake also will “bolster construction phase services by bringing additional expertise in erosion control and stormwater management during the construction phase of projects,” Raba Kistner said in a statement.
“As we continue to invest in our environmental and compliance capabilities, the new affiliation will support multiple components of Raba Kistner’s strategic growth plan,” said Joe Irizarry, chief marketing officer and senior vice president.
Terms were not disclosed.
Raba Kistner has about 500 employees in 12 offices in Texas, Utah, Nebraska and Mexico.
Former president Gary Raba stepped down at the end of 2020 after running the company since 2013. He had taken over from his father, Carl Raba, who started the company in 1968. The younger Raba said he would stay on as chief growth officer, focused on acquisitions. At the time, he said Raba Kistner had acquisitions underway that were delayed by the pandemic.
And, Raba said, government funding for flood and water control projects would create an opportunity for the company.
Drake Environmental, which was started in 2014 by founder Scott Story, specializes in erosion and sedimentation control, stormwater management and stormwater pollution prevention. Outside College Station, it also has offices in Austin and Houston.
“For the Drake Environmental team, this means we will have the opportunity to expand our services beyond our current client base,” Story said in a statement. “We are able to help the Raba Kistner team expand stormwater and pollution prevention services and can now offer our clients geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing and program management services.”
Raba Kistner has previous experience working in College Station. The firm led a major expansion and renovation of Kyle Field, Texas A&M University’s 102,000-seat football stadium. That project was completed in 2016.
Raba Kistner was acquired in late 2018 by Cardno, an Australian engineering services firm.
Since that acquisition, Cardno has split off the segment of its business that contains Raba Kistner, creating a new publicly traded company called Intega that now owns the San Antonio-based company.
This article was originally featured by the San Antonio Express News here: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/San-Antonio-engineering-firm-Raba-Kistner-16374892.php